By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SALEM, Ore. -- Willamette University women's tennis players Alexis Gjurasic (So., Olympia, WA/Capital HS) and Mina Mizutani (Fr., Los Alamitos, CA/Los Alamitos HS) have been honored as ITA Scholar-Athletes by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association for 2016-17. A total of 3,908 Scholar-Athletes were selected nationwide from women's tennis and men's tennis teams in all three NCAA divisions, the NAIA and junior colleges.

Scholar-Athlete status was achieved if a player was a varsity letter winner with a grade point average of at least 3.50 (4.0 scale) during the 2016-17 academic year. Athletes had to attend their current college or university for a least two semesters.

Willamette is a member of NCAA Division III, and the Bearcats compete in the Northwest Conference. A total of 784 women's tennis players in Division III received Scholar-Athlete status. In the NWC, the honor went to 20 women's athletes on a total of five teams. Gjurasic will be a junior in 2017-18, while Mizutani will be a sopomore.

ITA Scholar-Athlete Award

Alexis Gjurasic (So.) saw action in all 15 dual matches in 2016-17. She played in all 15 singles matches and all 15 doubles matches. She played mostly #3 singles (nine matches) and competed at #1 doubles in every match. She is working toward a double major in Anthropology and French and Francophone Studies.

Gjurasic also played in all 15 matches in both singles and doubles in 2015-16. She mostly saw action at the #2 position in singles (11 matches) and played #1 doubles in all 15 matches. In addition, she was Willamette's selection from women's tennis for the 2015-16 NWC All-Sportsmanship Team after displaying good sportsmanship throughout the season.

Mina Mizutani (Fr.) played in each of Willamette's 15 dual matches this spring. She saw action in 15 singles matches and 15 doubles matches. She played primarily at #4 singles, where she competed in 12 matches. She played in 13 matches at #2 doubles.

Mizutani was the only freshman to play in every dual match this season for the Bearcats. She was one of three players overall who played in all of the matches, joining Gjurasic and Mikaila Smith (Jr., Mill Valley, CA/Tamalpais HS). Mizutani is majoring in Psychology.